Primary election polls attract low percentage of voters in Carbon County area

A Carbon County resident signs in at the Castleview Hospital primary elections station as poll judge Lola Anderton points to where the voter's signature should be placed. Officials across the state reported a number of people who walked into polling places and left without casting ballots due to the closed Republican Party primary. On the flipside of the June 25 elections, local voters selected two county commission candidates on the Carbon Democratic Party ballot. Incumbent William Krompel defeated John Serfustini by 1,287 to 660, while Steve Burge squelched Tom Matthews' bid for re-election at 1,272 to 713. Carbon Democratic candidates will square off with Republican rivals in the Novermber election. On the Republican side, the only race on the county ballot involved picking a challenger to run against second congressional district incumbent Jim Matheson. John Swallow led Tim Bridgewater by 22,312 to 20,346, with 529 or the 532 districts reporting at press time. Locally, Bridgewater received 129 Republican votes compared to Swallow's 73.